Filial Piety
by Tsuki no Tennyo
Summary: (bordering on crack) Sesshoumaru has tea, er, sake, with his mother.


**Author's Note:** I think drinking sake with Sesshoumaru's mother would be a hoot. I think drinking any alcohol with her would be a hoot. This might border on crack, I don't know and I'm not sorry.

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**Filial Piety**  
_By Tsuki no Tennyo_

It should have been another normal day for Sesshoumaru consisting of aimlessly wandering through feudal Japan, maybe paying Rin a visit in her village, possibly pounding Jaken for whatever comments he made under his breath that he thought wouldn't be heard by the heightened hearing of a dog demon, those things. It _should_ have been a normal day.

His mother's floating castle in the sky making an appearance was nowhere to be found on his list of normal agendas. Her extending an invitation for him to come and just _talk_ was even more bizarre.

He really should decline the invitation. Tell her he was busy. Maybe in another five hundred years, Mother. But the gnawing realization of how much she had helped him (and birthed him, for that matter) somehow stuck to him like a pesky fucking thorn, and he found that responding in any negative fashion was impossible.

That was how he found himself on this should-have-been-a-normal-day walking up this long flight of stairs to meet his beloved waiting mother for…sake, it seemed.

"You're already drinking, Mother?"

She lowered her cup, smiling delightedly at seeing her precious son in front of her. She gestured for him to come closer and sit at the table set up for the occasion. He lowered himself onto the cushion and picked up a cup that was quickly filled with the rice wine by one of his mother's many servants.

"I've just had a cup, dear, or three." She waved his perplexed look aside. "Now, I've invited you here to discuss why you have not expressed any interest regarding taking a wife."

Sesshoumaru stared at his mother, somehow unprepared for this conversation that was bound to have happened sooner or later. He had hoped either she would die first or he would somehow get himself killed before this would happen. He threw his drink back, needing to lower his inhibition in order to deal with whatever his mother had prepared to spout at him for the next five hours.

"Now, I was fine before when you were occupied by your father's silly little self-discovery test, but it's been over six years, and in all of that time you've tormented your half-brother repeatedly, ripped your father's grave out of your brother's eye, lost an arm, chased after a silly little sword, taken a human pet, forged that demonic sword, taken another human pet, visited me _once_, went into the Underworld, mastered Tenseiga's technique, regenerated the aforementioned lost arm, created your own sword, and defeated that ridiculous half-demon. The last three years you dedicated to just wandering around Japan without a purpose."

"Monitoring. I was monitoring my lands," Sesshoumaru countered, taking offense to her last comment and not her apparent voyeurism into his life for the past six years.

"You were staring off a cliff, dear." She continued, not leaving room for Sesshoumaru to speak, "In that time, you could have taken a wife already. Unless…" She stopped, casting a look at her wary son, "Now, I'm fine with you swinging the other way, dear, but please tell me you haven't taken that little imp demon as your life partner."

Sesshoumaru was sipping his sake when he was struck with the overwhelming urge to retch into his cup. From an outside appearance, the only noticeable change in his behavior was his eyes widening for a millisecond before he closed them altogether in order to quietly contemplate how to prolong his next visit to his mother.

"Ah!" His mother clapped her hands together, suddenly delighted with whatever thought floated through her head. "That young priestess that's always following your half-brother. Her powers, while still not quite matured yet, it will be very powerful once it's reach its full potential. For a human, she is also not bad to look at. Her scent is also much better than some of the others. Such a shame, though, that her lifespan is so much shorter, but perhaps we can fix that."

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes slowly. He could see his mother had a finger to her chin, carrying on with her idle thoughts while ignoring her son. He didn't even understand why she had bothered to invite him here if she was just going to ignore him.

"I don't desire Inuyasha's wife."

His mother turned to look at her son, surprise evident on her face. "Oh? She's already taken? That is rather disappointing. Well, it's not like marriage ever stopped your father from humping the next thing with a pulse. I really should have used Tessaiga to chop off his—"

"Are we honestly discussing Father's previous affairs?"

"No, you're right, dear," his mother leaned back on her throne, smiling sweetly at her son. "We are here to discuss why you have not given me a grandchild yet. The closest thing I have to a grandchild is that little human girl that you've taken in. And then abandoned again."

"I did not abandon Rin." Sesshoumaru felt like rubbing his temple, finding this much bonding time with his mother to be far more stressful than when he was pursuing Naraku or mastering Meidou Zangetsuha. "She is readapting herself to be among humans, like she should be."

"Hm." His mother continued to look at her son, disbelieving. "I hope that is your only intention."

"What are you insinuating, Mother?"

She took another sip of her sake and then raised the cup for a servant to come and refill for her. She gave her waiting son a look of mild concern as she voiced her thought aloud, "I hope you are not waiting for that child to mature into a woman. It is one thing to meet someone when they are fully grown, but it is another to meet them as a child and then waiting for them to reach that suitable age."

Sesshoumaru held back his annoyance. "That was never my intention to begin with."

"You visit her often, each time bearing beautiful and expensive gifts for the little girl."

Sesshoumaru was quiet for a moment, causing his mother's worried face to deepen. Finally, he let out a soft whisper that he knew only his mother's ears would hear. "I am…fond of her." He stared into his cup, wanting to avoid his mother's gaze. "That is the extent of my visits. I have no other motive with her."

His mother's face softened, her warm smile returning. "You really are your father's son." She leaned forward, her hands clasped together eagerly. "Now where did we leave off on that priestess?"

Sesshoumaru decided another one thousand years would probably be a good time for his next visit.


End file.
